The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The present disclosure relates to a seat device for a vehicle that comprises a front row seat and a rear row seat. The front row seat on a floor panel includes a driver's seat and an assistant's seat that are disposed side by side, and the rear row seat is provided behind the front row seat. A center seat may be located between the seat of the front row seat or between the seats of the rear row seat.
Many interior designs have been developed to enhance the aesthetic appearance and to provide comfort, as well as convenience, to vehicle occupants. For example, many automotive vehicles include a center console or other storage device disposed between the driver and assistant's seats in the front passenger compartment of the vehicle. The console has many functions. For example, in addition to operating as a storage unit, the console may operate as an armrest or as a writing table or general work surface for an occupant of the front passenger compartment. Additionally, the console may include one or more cup holders, a coin compartment and other convenience features desired by vehicle occupants.
While convenience features incorporated into the consoles of many automobiles have been meeting the desires and needs of the front passenger compartment occupants, we have discovered that providing many of these features to the rear row or second row seat occupants in the rear passenger compartment are more challenging because of the presence of the center seat to provide a seating surface to be seated by a third passenger. For example, while the center seat is occupied, a storage tray or a cup holder formed in either an armrest or on a side of the center seat cannot be used.
Moreover, the front row seat passengers (e.g., a driver and a front passenger seat occupant) have limited access to the storage tray or cup holders formed in the armrest or the center seat of the rear row seat so that convenience features incorporated into the rear row seat would not be utilized properly.
In addition to increase the usage of a storage space formed in a console or armrest, interior designs have been developed to provide convenient seat arrangements to commit to various user needs. For example, a seat device for a vehicle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,315 provides a large-scaled storage space by moving a center seat cushion of a rear row seat and thus improves convenience. In a normal state, the center seat cushion becomes a center seat cushion that can provide a space for a third passenger sitting in the rear row seat. The center seat cushion moves upward and forward from its normal state so that a large-scaled storage space is provided.
As a center-seat-moving mechanism to move the center seat cushion, however, the seat device requires complicate link mechanisms. The center-seat-moving mechanism includes a pair of brackets fixed on a floor, a base member, a pair of pivot bracket, an a pair of link members, each of which are provided on front and rear sides, and thus in total, four of the link members form the moving mechanism. This type of moving mechanism increases the weight and cost of manufacturing a seat device, as well as a high possibility of malfunction of the moving mechanism due to many parts assembled.